Writing the first post on a new site is like shouting into a void. No one is there to hear—yet. But, here we are. Who is Ursula Vogt, and why would she gamble a career to write fiction?
Love, of course!
I am a full-time copywriter, turned fiction writer. I love mystery, crime, and especially the characters involved. It’s the psychology of a bad decision that gets me hooked.
Crime has always been part of my life. I grew up in a charming little Midwest town that proves every Hallmark Movies cliché you’ve ever heard, including murder. I am also a trained court reporter, thanks to some fun summers working in my dad’s law office.
Fast forward twenty years and small town living wasn’t for me. I love to travel, and like every writer I’ve ever met, I was playing What if… in my head with the people and places along the way. When you’ve lived in eight states and visited most of the rest, you meet some fascinating people and find yourself in some “situations.” What if our waitress serves the scrambled eggs, walks out the back door, and is never heard from again? What if our sketchy new landlord is hiding a body in that shed out back? Three padlocks…hmmm.
You get the idea, right?
There were several career changes involved in that timeline, including my favorite—running a homeless shelter. But with every new move, every new job, and every new story they inspired, the constant undercurrent was the people. They were friends and neighbors living side-by-side in survival mode. Doctors and the local junkies. City commissioners and guards from the local penitentiary. Parents buying thousand-dollar baby cribs at the mall, driving past the kids outside, flying a sign, begging for change so they could eat that night.
In 2000, online writing was about to get interesting. I began copywriting and wrote content for everyone from family magazines to tattoo artists. I still write both online and in print, but my writing changed when my husband tossed me a copy of Writer’s Digest. They had an online contest for fiction writers, and he dared me.
I wrote, “Garden Sluts—A Writer’s Curse,” and won my first fiction publication. I was hooked.
Like every writer I have ever met, I experiment, but always come back to my first love—crime and the people who get caught up.
So, welcome to the site. Ursula Vogt is just another mystery/crime writer, with a twist. I love characters who are as real, as challenged, as good and as bad as the guy down the street. I write about situations you might have found yourself in, but gone desperately, darkly wrong. And I write stories where society plays as big a role as any character. I hope you’ll come back for more.